Mangalore: Madam President Pratibha expressed her happiness on coming to Mangalore to attend the World Konkani Unity Day and to present the 25 awards to various Konkani services institutions chosen all the world over. She understood that this was actually a part of 25 days of celebrations being conducted by Maand Sobhann at Shaktinagar from Nov. 25 to Dec 19.
The cultural exhibition organised by various Konkani – speaking groups in India and abroad presents a multiplicity of religious, cultural, social and economic aspects unified by a single language known as Konkani that thrives on the  West Coast and Kerala upto Kochi. The President has thanked Maand Sobhann for conducting this World Convention of all Konkani speaking people under one umbrella.
She said over a hundred crores of national citizens live in India. Every sixth person in the World lives in India. The Indian Constitution takes note of 22 main (or state) languages, along with hundreds of other languages, dialects and cultures within every state here. Almost every religion has a following in India.
People living in four corners of India experience happiness in a unity of life amidst diversity. Over 1600 dialects are spoken in this vast country. This quality cannot go away, but stays here. Today we see Konkani people celebrating a Unity Fest at this venue.
These people, Pratibha Patil continued in her address to say, are peace – loving and their culture is rich and traditional, so strong. They work hard in any venture they take up. Some of them have taken part in our freedom struggle Konkani is the most diverse (42)  in its communities who live together on India’s west Coast.
The language is regarded as one of the earliest or oldest of dialects in India. A Konkani dictionary was published in 1567 AD. The President wanted to congratulate all those who wrote and reformed the language without disturbing its emotional / cultural unity.
We need to uphold these values to maintain our culture and country strong under demanding conditions of the present day progressive world. Konkani tastes, I am told are very fine. She thanked the organizers.